Apps let you see how furniture will look in your home without straining your back

ChairishTwo applications that help furniture shoppers find items to buy have now added augmented reality functionality, which lets them see how potential purchases would look in their homes. It allows them to make sure that whatever they’re buying will fit perfectly — in terms of size, color and style –into whatever room they plan to put it.

One of the biggest downsides to buying anything online is that you never quite know how it will look or feel in the real world. That goes doubly so for larger items like furniture, because even with tape measures, dimensions and pictures, it’s not always easy to envision just how it will look. The new augmented reality feature in Chairish and Decaso’s applications, removes much of the guesswork.

Chairish is one of the more popular online furniture marketplaces, while the Decorative Arts Society (Decaso) is an invite-only platform for select dealers that connects buyers directly with modernist and antique furniture dealers, so together they cover a lot of bases when it comes to online furniture shopping. Their adoption of the new augmented reality features follows a new round of funding by the parent company of both firms that has generated an additional investment of $8 million.

For users interested in trying out the new features, the Chairish and DECASO apps are available on iOS only, and offer a wide selection of compatible products. Picking any of them will give users the chance to ask the question: “Will this item work in my space?” Clicking the link will switch on the iPhone or iPad’s camera, prompting the screen to augment the space it sees with the chosen furniture item.

Users can place the item live in their room and save images of the placement for later, to give them a reminder, or to let them compare various placements for the same piece of furniture.

Chairish hopes the new app will give designers and homebuyers a more educated shopping experience, as well as allow them to share potential purchases with clients and friends.

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